Decker Building, 33 Union Square West, NYC (2008)

The Factory was

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities and Warhol's superstars. The original Factory was often referred to as the Silver Factory. In the studio, Warhol's workers would make

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mes ...

s and

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

s under his direction.

History

Due to the mess his work was causing at home, Warhol wanted to find a studio where he could paint. A friend of his found an old unoccupied firehouse on East 87th Street where Warhol began working in January 1963. No one was eager to go there, so the rent was $150 a month. A few months later, Warhol was informed that the building would have to be vacated soon, and in November he found another loft on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...

, which would become the first Factory. In 1963, artist Ray Johnson took Warhol to a "haircutting party" at Billy Name's apartment, decorated with tin foil and silver paint, and Warhol asked him to do the same scheme for his recently leased loft. Silver, fractured mirrors, and tin foil were the basic decorating materials loved by early amphetamine users of the sixties. Name covered the whole factory in silver, even the elevator. Warhol's years at the Factory were known as the Silver Era. Aside from the prints and paintings, Warhol produced shoes, films, sculptures and commissioned work in various genres to brand and sell items with his name. His first commissions consisted of a single silkscreen portrait for $25,000, with additional canvases in other colors for $5,000 each. He later increased the price of alternative colors to $20,000 each. Warhol used a large portion of his income to finance the Factory. Billy Name brought in the red couch which became a prominent furnishing at the Factory, finding it on the sidewalk of 47th street during one of his "midnight outings." The sofa quickly became a favorite place for Factory guests to crash overnight, usually after coming down from

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quant ...

. It was featured in many photographs and films from the Silver era, including '' Blow Job'' (1963) and '' Couch'' (1964). During the move in 1968, the couch was stolen while left unattended on the sidewalk for a short time. Many Warhol films, including those made at the Factory, were first (or later) shown at the

New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre The Garrick Cinema (periodically referred to as the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, Andy Warhol's Garrick Cinema, Garrick Theatre, or Nickelodeon) was a 199-seat movie house at 152 Bleecker Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower ...

55th Street Playhouse The 55th Street Playhouse—periodically referred to as the 55th Street Cinema and Europa Theatre—was a 253-seat movie house at 154 West 55th Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened on May 20, 1927. Many classic art and foreign- ...

. Warhol left in 1967 when the building was scheduled to be torn down. The location is now the entrance to the parking garage of One Dag. He then relocated his studio to the sixth floor of the Decker Building at 33 Union Square West near the corner of East 16th Street, near

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decem ...

, a club which Warhol and his entourage frequently visited. By the time Warhol had achieved a reputation, he was working day and night on his paintings. Warhol used silkscreens so that he could mass-produce images the way corporations mass-produced consumer goods. To increase production, he attracted a ménage of adult film performers,

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part ...

, socialites, drug addicts, musicians, and free-thinkers who became known as the Warhol Superstars, to help him. These "art-workers" helped him create his paintings, starred in his films, and created the atmosphere for which the Factory became legendary. In 1968, Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas at the Factory. The Factory was revamped and remained there until 1973. It moved to 860 Broadway at the north end of Union Square. Although this space was much larger, not much filmmaking took place there. In 1984 Warhol moved his remaining ventures, no longer including filming, to 22 East 33rd Street, a conventional office building. Speaking in 2002, musician

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...

said, "It wasn't called the Factory for nothing. It was where the assembly line for the silkscreens happened. While one person was making a silkscreen, somebody else would be filming a

screen test A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...

. Every day something new."

Regulars

Friends of Warhol and "superstars" associated with the Factory included: * George Abagnalo * Paul America * Penny Arcade * Joey Arias * Brigid and Richie Berlin * Jean-Michel Basquiat * Richard Bernstein *

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Tally Brown Tally Brown (August 1, 1924 – May 6, 1989) was a singer and actress who was part of the New York underground performance scene, particularly Andy Warhol's "Factory" and who appeared in or was the subject of films by Andy Warhol and Rosa von P ...

* William S. Burroughs * Patrick Tilden Close *

Jackie Curtis Jackie Curtis (February 19, 1947 – May 15, 1985) was an American actress, writer, singer, and Warhol superstar. Early life and career Jackie Curtis was born in New York City to John Holder and Jenevive Uglialoro. She had one sibling, half-br ...

Ronnie Cutrone Ronnie Cutrone (July 10, 1948 – July 21, 2013) was an American pop artist known for his large-scale paintings of some of America's favorite cartoon characters, such as Felix the Cat, Pink Panther, Woody Woodpecker and No Glove No Love. Style C ...

* Joe Dallesandro * Candy Darling * Johnny Dodd * Bobby Driscoll * Eric Emerson * Danny Fields * Jane Forth * Henry Geldzahler * John Giorno * Catherine Guinness *

Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modelling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film '' Batman''. Hall was t ...

* Halston * Bibbe Hansen * Keith Haring * Debbie Harry *

Freddie Herko Frederick Charles "Freddie" Herko (February 23, 1936 – October 27, 1964) was an American artist, musician, actor, dancer, choreographer and teacher. Early life Born in New York City, Herko's father was a diner manager and his mother was a ...

* Baby Jane Holzer *

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

* Bianca Jagger *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

* Miro Bartonik * Betsey Johnson * Ray Johnson * Jed Johnson * Brian Jones *

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

* Udo Kier * Naomi Levine * Ulli Lommel *

Gerard Malanga Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943) is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, actor, curator and archivist. Early life Malanga was born in the Bronx in 1943, the only child of Italian immigrant parents. In 1959, at the beginning of h ...

* Taylor Mead *

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

Mario Montez René Rivera, (July 20, 1935 – September 26, 2013), known professionally as Mario Montez, was one of the Warhol superstars, appearing in thirteen of Andy Warhol's underground films from 1964 to 1966. He took his name as a male homage to the act ...

* Paul Morrissey * Herbert Muschamp * Billy Name * International Velvet * Nico * Ondine * Ruby Lynn Reyner *

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

* Anita Pallenberg * Paige Powell *

Asha Puthli Asha Puthli is a singer-songwriter, producer, and actress born on February 4, 1945 and raised in Bombay, India. She has recorded solo albums for EMI, CBS/Sony, and RCA. Her recordings cover blues, pop, rock, soul, funk, disco, and techno and ...

* Lou Reed *

* Rene Ricard * Keith Richards *

Rotten Rita Rotten Rita (real name Kenneth C. Rapp) (May 6, 1938 - February 26, 2010) was an influential denizen of Andy Warhol's The Factory and was sometimes referred to as "The Mayor". Although he worked by day in a fabric store, he spent many nights at the ...

* Edie Sedgwick *

Stephen Shore Stephen Shore (born October 8, 1947) is an American photographer known for his images of banal scenes and objects, and for his pioneering use of color in art photography. His books include ''Uncommon Places'' (1982) and ''American Surfaces'' (199 ...

* Ingrid Superstar * Ultra Violet * The Velvet Underground *

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * V ...

Louis Waldon Louis Waldon (December 16, 1934 – December 6, 2013) was an American film actor, whose career spanned nearly 45 years. He was born in Modesto, California. Waldon began his acting career in 1965. He was best known for his collaboration with Ameri ...

Chuck Wein Chuck Wein (March 24, 1939March 18, 2008) was an American promoter and manager of entertainment acts whose celebrity stemmed from his five-year (1964–1969) association with Andy Warhol and from his discovery of Edie Sedgwick who became a ...

* Holly Woodlawn * Mary Woronov

Work

Music

The Factory became a meeting place of artists and musicians such as Lou Reed,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, and

, as well as writer

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

. Less frequent visitors included

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

and

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

. Warhol collaborated with Reed's influential New York rock band the Velvet Underground in 1965, and designed the noted cover for ''

The Velvet Underground & Nico ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' is the debut album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Ex ...

,'' the band's debut album. It featured a plastic image of a yellow banana, which users could peel off to reveal a flesh-hued version of the banana. Warhol also designed the album cover for

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

' album '' Sticky Fingers''. Warhol included the Velvet Underground in the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a spectacle that combined art, rock, Warhol films and dancers of all kinds, as well as live S&M enactments and imagery. The Velvet Underground and EPI used the Factory as a place to rehearse and hang out. " Walk on the Wild Side", Lou Reed's best-known song from his solo career, was released on his second, and first commercially successful, solo album, ''

Transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

'' (1972). The song relates to the

superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol * WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler * Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...

and life of the Factory. He mentions Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro,

and Joe Campbell (referred to in the song by his Factory nickname Sugar Plum Fairy).

Sexual radicals

Andy Warhol commented on mainstream America through his art while disregarding its conservative social views. Almost all his work filmed at the Factory featured nudity, graphic sexuality, drug use, same-sex relations and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

characters in much greater proportion to what was being shown in mainstream cinema. By making the films, Warhol created a sexually lenient environment at the Factory for the " happenings" staged there, which included fake weddings between drag queens, porn film rentals, and vulgar plays. What was called free love took place in the studio, as sexuality in the 1960s was becoming more open and embraced as a high ideal. Warhol used footage of sexual acts between his friends in his work, such as in ''

Blue Movie ''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is r ...

'', a 1969 film directed, produced, written and cinematographed by Warhol. The film, starring

and

, was the first

adult erotic film Erotic photography is a style of art photography of an erotic, sexually suggestive or sexually provocative nature. Erotic photography is often distinguished from nude photography, which contains nude subjects not necessarily in an erotic situation ...

depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Holly Woodlawn and

were noted

who were part of the Factory group, as was

woman Candy Darling. Andy Warhol frequently used these women and other sexual non-conformists in his films, plays, and events. Because of the constant drug use and the presence of sexually liberal artists and radicals, drugged orgies were a frequent happening at the Factory. Warhol met Ondine at an orgy in 1962:

Films

Warhol started shooting movies in the Factory around 1963, when he began work on ''Kiss''. He screened his films at the Factory for his friends before they were released for public audiences. When traditional theaters refused to screen his more provocative films, Warhol sometimes turned to night-clubs or porn theaters, including the

and the

, for their distribution. The following list includes all movies filmed entirely or partly at the Factory. 1963 * ''

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

'' * ''Rollerskate'' * ''Haircut no. 1'' * ''Haircut no. 2'' * ''Haircut no. 3'' 1964 * ''Handjob'' * '' Blow Job'' * ''

Screen Tests The ''Screen Tests'' are a series of short, silent, black-and-white film portraits by Andy Warhol, made between 1964 and 1966, generally showing their subjects from the neck up against plain backdrops. The ''Screen Tests'', of which 472 survive ...

'' (1964–1966) * ''

Jill Johnston Jill Johnston (May 17, 1929 – September 18, 2010) was a British-born American feminist author and cultural critic who wrote '' Lesbian Nation'' in 1973 and was a longtime writer for ''The Village Voice''. She was also a leader of the lesbian ...

Dancing'' * ''

Eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

'' * '' Couch'' * '' Henry Geldzahler'' * ''Shoulder'' * ''

Soap Opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

'' * '' Taylor Mead's Ass'' * ''Mario Banana'' * ''

Harlot Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

'' * ''13 Most Beautiful Women'' * ''13 Most Beautiful Boys'' * ''50 Fantastics and 50 Personalities'' 1965 * ''John and Ivy'' * ''Screen Test #1'' * ''Screen Test #2'' * ''Drink'' * ''Suicide'' (Screen Test #3) * ''

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

'' * '' Vinyl'' * ''Bitch'' * '' Poor Little Rich Girl'' * ''Face'' * ''Afternoon'' * '' Beauty No. 1'' * '' Beauty No. 2'' * ''

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

'' * ''Factory Diaries'' * ''Outer and Inner Space'' * ''Prison'' * ''The Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders'' * ''My Hustler'' * ''

Camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

'' * '' More Milk, Yvette'' * ''Lupe'' 1966 * ''Ari and Mario'' * '' Eating Too Fast'' (a.k.a. ''Blow Job #2'') * '' The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound'' * ''Hedy'' (a.k.a. ''Hedy the Shoplifter'') * ''The Beard'' * ''

'' * ''Superboy'' * '' The Chelsea Girls'' * ''The Bob Dylan Story'' * '' Since'' (a.k.a. ''The Kennedy Assassination'') * ''Mrs. Warhol'' * ''Kiss the Boot'' * '' The Andy Warhol Story'' * ''A Christmas Carol'' * '' **** (four stars)'' (a.k.a. ''The 24-Hour Movie'') 1967 * '' Imitation of Christ'' * '' I, a Man'' * ''The Loves of Ondine'' * '' Bike Boy'' * '' Tub Girls'' * '' The Nude Restaurant'' * ''Sunset'' 1968 * '' Lonesome Cowboys'' * '' Flesh'' * '' Trash'' (1968–1969) * '' Women in Revolt'' (1968–1971) 1969 * ''

'' * ''

Sticks and Stones "Sticks and Stones" is an English-language children's rhyme. The rhyme is used as a defense against name-calling and verbal bullying, intended to increase resiliency, avoid physical retaliation, and/or to remain calm and indifferent. The full rh ...

'' (by Miro Bartonik)

Locations

* Studio: 159 East 87th Street * Factory: 231 East 47th Street, 1963–67 (the building no longer exists) * Factory: 33 Union Square, 1967–73 ( Decker Building) * Factory: 860 Broadway, 1973–84 (the building has now been completely remodeled) * Factory: 158 Madison Ave, Manhattan NY, Feb 2, 1983 to 1987. This building extended 27 feet along Madison Ave, 96 feet along 33rd St. AKA 22nd 33rd St. (the building no longer exists) * Home: 1342 Lexington Avenue * Home: 57 East 66th Street (Warhol's last home)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Factory 1960s in the United States Andy Warhol American artist groups and collectives New York (state) culture Cultural history of New York City